Twilight Cross
by Hiyami
Summary: A young farmer discovers his true lineage and power in a tale of mystery and death. on hold
1. Prologue

(Beta: I do not own this story or the plot. It's written by a friend. I'm just posting it for him. Any reviews/comments will be forwarded to him. However Kuroikabuto and I do not own Ragnarok Online, we just play the game.)

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Twilight Cross

Prologue

'...so, you managed to escape .But, no matter, we will kill you now.'

The Assassin Cross who stood before the Knights of Prontera seemed to be in shock. Impossible for him not to be, since his team mates were all dead before his feet.

Like a dragon waking from its slumber, the assassin raised his head-instantly all the Knights surrounding him were cowed, seemingly diminished before the trained killer.

Trembling, the Knights' leader, a Lord Knight, stepped forward hesitantly.

'No point crying over them. They're dead, and you shall join them in the depths of Hell!'

The Assassin Cross glared at the Lord Knight, and the Knight fell to his knees; so great was the wrath that the killer's eyes conveyed, so great was the killing intent that the Assassin Cross exuded, that even a grown man trained as a Lord Knight, was felled with simply a gaze.

The Knights were obviously fearful but thought they could win as they had numbers; they moved to form a protective circle around their fallen leader.

'Don't you dare come any nearer, foul knave, or taste the fury of the Knights of Prontera!' one of the knights shouted. As one the knights drew their swords, preparing for combat with the Assassin Cross. How dare he treat their leader, an honourable Lord Knight of Prontera's elite swordsman, with such disrespect! He would pay dearly for his insolence.

'...out of my way.'

The chilling sound of the assassin's voice sent a chill down all the knights' backs, but before their brains had time to register the fact that they should be afraid, they were dead.

The assassin walked over to the bodies of his fallen comrades. They would be honoured; heroes of the Assassin's Guild, but this incident would not be overlooked by the Elders. Prontera would pay for it's treachery.

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Review please! I'll bug him for updates! Ask me to bug him for it and I'll gladly do it.


	2. Chapter 1: Escape

(Beta: Standard disclaimer applies and from now on, it's disclaimed for this and future chapters so don't go suing us (me and Kuroikabuto) or anything. We don't own it, just played the game.)

Keys: 'blah blah' normal speech  
_blah blah _thoughts  
(blah blah) Author's or beta's notes and interruptions

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Chapter One: Escape

Tal collapsed under a tree, exhausted after an hour of hard work under the sun on the farm. It wasn't easy, looking after a farm himself, but he was used to it. After all, when his father died three years ago he had to take over the farm or else the family would have nothing to eat, what with the war which was leaving most of Prontera's population starving. The king had declared open war on the Thieves' Guild, citing a recent incident where four Assassins had ambushed a convoy heading home from Morroc.

Since then the king wanted ninety percent of every farmer's yield to be taken from them to sustain the growing Imperial army-the fighting strength of Prontera was boosted by warriors from various Guilds from all over Rune-Midgard. Everyday more and more mercenaries and warriors swelled the ranks of the Imperial army-so much that even the all-mighty Thieves Guild would probably be crushed to oblivion.

Tal was exempted from serving the king as a knight of Prontera solely because he was to provide food for the growing army-almost all his crop was taken from him. He longed to move to another state to live in-like Payon, the city surrounded by forest, home of the Hunter's Guild. But since the war was openly declared no Pronterans were allowed to leave the borders of the capital.

'Tal! Are you done milking the cow? If you are, come here! The landlord's come to collect the rent and the harvest!', Tal's sister Lyn called from inside the house, which was a stone's throw away from where he was resting.

'Coming…',was Tal's lazy reply. Grumbling about the landlord's lousy timing Tal got up and slowly made his way to the house. Who cared if the landlord had to wait? The bastard didn't give a damn about the people he was collecting rent from; he didn't care if they had no food to eat. Technically where they lived was in between Prontera and Geffen, but closer to Geffen; nonetheless the lousy good-for-nothing had sided with the Pronteran king despite Geffen's governor being completely against the war-they had only pledged less than a hundred Wizards to the cause. Although most didn't know it Geffen's Mage Guild were allies with the Thieves Guild; an unlikely alliance but powerful nonetheless. As they were seen by the world as supporters of Prontera, they had no choice.

As Tal was about to open the back door leading into his kitchen a scream tore the silence of the country into shreds.

'LYN!', Tal yelled. He leapt forward, grabbing a heavy wooden stick as he went past the kitchen into the living room-and he received the shock of his life. His sister was being held by two knights, and behind them was the landlord.

'Mr. McNeil, what is the meaning of this? Unhand my sister and give me an explanation!', Tal roared.

The landlord smiled. 'Ah, Tal. The man of the house is finally here. Well, I suppose you want to know what's going on here.'

The man circled around the knights and came face to face with Tal.

'The kings requires…ah, people, in his court. We are taking your sister to him. Simple as that.'

'It bloody well isn't! What in the name of the gods does he want "people" in is court for?'

McNeil's smile widened.

'Sacrifice.'

'Wh…what? Sacrifice?'

'Yes, the king has decided to listen to his advisors and resurrect a certain group of warriors; you may have heard of them. The Slayers?'

Tal froze as he heard the name. The Slayers were a group of mercenaries loyal to none but each other-a team of only ten people. The Slayers were a group of defects-warriors who left their Guilds to form their team.

When the Slayers were alive they were the most skillful-and most feared-team of mercenaries Rune-Midgard had ever seen. Not only were they skilled they were ruthless; if they were sent to assassinate someone they would slay not only the person but the person's family as well, supposedly to prevent anyone from starting a vendetta. But the Slayers were all found dead one afternoon outside Prontera City's walls. Till this day no one knows who were the ones to kill the Slayers, but suspicions were all directed to the Thieves Guild, although there was doubt if they could-the Assassin Guild's most accomplished killer Eremes Guille was a part of the Slayers-he was said to be an unrivalled swordsman and assassin, which raises the idea that there is now someone in the Assassin Guild who was more skilled than Eremes himself-a preposterous idea.

'Well, if you have nothing else to say-let us be off,' the landlord turned and was about to leave-but stopped dead in his tracks. Before anyone knew what was going on the landlord collapsed, an arrow sticking out of his forehead.

'What the…'one of the knights began

Before he could finish his sentence an arrow pierced his neck, the only weak point in his near-impenetrable armor.

'Who's there?! Come out!' yelled the other knight, drawing his sword and looking around frantically.

Tal swung his stick as hard as he could at the knight; not hard enough to kill the man but hard enough to send him reeling. A second blow to the head sent the knight's helmet flying off-and almost immediately an arrow pierced his forehead.

'Lyn! Are you alright?' Tal crouched over his trembling sister.

Before she could answer a shadow blotted out the light from their doorway.

'Tal. Take your sister and leave. The king does not like his subjects disobeying orders; a full battalion of knights will be here by tomorrow.'

'Mallik? Did you kill the knights? How…'

Mallik was their neighbor, a retired hunter who lived alone in his wooden cabin near the border. He often stopped by for dinner and ale, but he always seemed to be a jovial man, not like the stoic Snipers of the Hunter's Guild. But now his face was taut with concentration, listening for anyone who was approaching.

'No time for words now. Make your way as fast as possible to Geffen. You'll be safe there. I have an escort waiting for you, now go! I will meet you at the Silver Horn Tavern in Geffen.'

'But the knights-'

'Just go! NOW!'

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Beta: Oh come on! Review people! Review! This beta here commands you all to review! looks at the angry faces of the readers All right, I retract my command and ask you all to just leave a little review. It might make Kuroikabuto write faster. Who knows? Please? Even one word? 


	3. Chapter 2: Blade

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**Kuroikabuto: REALLY busy, no time to write new chaps ATM.**

**Beta: I'll get Kuroi-kun to write more and send them to me. Soon… PLEASE REVIEW! That's the easiest way to get him to write instead of me bugging him all the time. **

Keys: 'blah blah' normal speech  
_blah blah _thoughts  
(blah blah) Author's or beta's notes and/or interruptions

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Chapter Two: Blade

Tal and his sister stumbled along; weary from moving for almost an hour without rest. Near the border, Mallik had said. They were nearly across the border already and yet no sign of any 'escort'.

'Tal…I can't…go on…any further without…rest…,' Lyn panted.

Tal nodded and collapsed under a tree. Thankfully they were walking through a forest not an open field, they would have been sun burnt to death.

The siblings waited under the tree in silence. What would become of them now? Mallik claimed they would be safe in Geffen, but Geffen sided with Prontera (AN: almost no-one knows about the Thief-Mage alliance, remember). How would they be safe there?

'I suppose you think you're safe here eh?'

Tal sat bolt upright. They were surrounded by knights and hunters, all bearing the seal of the Imperial Army. A tall man, dark skinned and yellow toothed with an eye-patch over his left eye stepped forward. He wore a faded vest over his other wise bare chest and a heavy Gakkung strapped onto his back. He also had a badge pinned on his vest-a commander's pin.

The man grinned. 'Looks like we have the runaways right here people. Don't make this difficult for us, aye? We don' wan no hassle here, don' be making me shoot any of yer limbs off to make you cooperate aye? The king said 'bring back alive' but he didn't say wad condition you need be in…' he finished with a malicious smile at Lyn.

Tal wanted to do something. There was no way he would allow his sister to be…

The sniper made his way lazily to Lyn, smiling widely. The other knights and snipers there had similar smiles on their faces. Lyn looked desperately at Tal, but he seemed frozen in his place, looking at one of the knights.

She turned to look.

He wasn't looking at the knight.

He was looking at the assassin standing behind the knight.

Hurling a poisoned dagger at the leader, the assassin leapt into action drawing his katars smoothly out of their well-worn sheaths. In a single move he had slain the knight in front of him with a slice at the neck. He then proceeded to parry, evade, counterattack and kill the others of the group surrounding the siblings. It was an intricate blade dance that Tal's eyes could not follow, so skilled was the assassin at striking his opponent's vital points it seemed almost effortless. The hunting party was dropped one by one and they could barely fight back.

Barely a minute later the assassin came and stood before Tal, his work done.

'…where is the girl.'

Tal started, looking around frantically, but it was too late. In the commotion ensuing the assassin's blade dance, some of the hunting party had taken Lyn.

The assassin wasted no time for questions. It was obvious from the boy's expression, he had forgotten about his sister's plight.

The trained killer walked over to the body of the hunting party's leader and knelt down to feel his pulse, weak and dying, but still alive.

'Where have they taken her? Answer me and I will ease your passing; the poison will incapacitate you completely, and slowly make you rot from inside out. The wild beasts will sense your impending death and come to consume your flesh while you are still alive. Would you like to hear more or do you want to talk?'

The tactic was cruel but effective nonetheless. The man paled and immediately started talking.

'Prontera Church. The so-called high priests want to resurrect the mercenary group Slayers with human sacrifices for the war against you knaves of the Thieves Guild. Your end has come, bastard, there is no one who can defeat the might of Prontera's Imperial Army and the Slayers combined!'

The assassin straightened. 'What if I told you Eremes Guille and his group of miscreants were slain by an assassin team lead by me, and that I killed Eremes with my own hands?'

Turning to face Tal, the assassin said, 'We have no choice then. We shall continue to Geffen.'

'WHAT?! What about my sister?'

'……'

'Don't expect me to head to Geffen without my sister! And how do I know you're the escort Mallik told me about? You could have been sent to…kill us all! All of us from Prontera! That's what you cold hearted assholes do, isn't it? Kill people?'

After he finished his sentence the assassin tensed in anger. In a flash the assassin had Tal by the throat. He slowly lifted Tal off his feet. Leaning near he whispered, 'Is that what you think? We kill people for the sake of killing?' the man chuckled 'let me enlighten you.'

The assassin dropped Tal to the ground.

'Assassins do not kill for the fun of it. We are the ones who keep the peace in Rune-Midgard. Do you think that lousy king of Prontera gives a damn about the people in the world other than his immediate family? Do you think he can do what he says he does-protect he lands of evil? No. His knights only get in the way of us, the true protectors of Rune- Midgard. The knights aren't even well trained; a lone Soldier Skeleton can make short work of them.'

The assassin paused.

'It is true we accept missions to kill people, but we only accept missions that allow us to further our own goals, which is to maintain peace and order in Rune-Midgard. The Slayers were the greatest danger in our time; which is why we had to get rid of them. I can cite even more examples for you. Do you want to know the atrocities that have gone unpunished by your so-called righteous king?

'If you wish, we may make a side-trip. My mission is to protect you until you reach the Silver Horn. I was not given instruction not to make any detours. If we must go retrieve your sister, so be it. If only to prove to you that we of the Thieves Guild are more compassionate than the king paints the picture of us.'


	4. Chapter 3: Arrival

**Beta: Appologies for the late update! We've been busy with tests and exams and all that... R & R please! On with the chapter!**

Keys: 'blah blah' normal speech  
_blah blah _thoughts  
(blah blah) Author's or beta's notes and interruptions

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Chapter Three: Arrival

The sound of footsteps approaching made the assassin draw his katars back out of their sheaths-only to sheath them again.

"Razzex. Shina. Where is Mustafa?" the assassin enquired of a tree in front of him.

Immediately a tall man cloaked in black with a scar down his right eye and a petite female robed in red appeared in front of the assassin. Tal started-he had no idea at all anyone else was there.

Grinning, Razzex said, "Your skills haven't dulled one bit, Ryuuga. How did you know we had already arrived?"

"If it were dark I would still be able to detect you, Razzex, even while Cloaking you breathe so loudly. I did not hear or see Shina, but I felt the presence of two. Mustafa would not have been able to squeeze under that alcove so I assumed it was you two. And another thing, the girl may not have been taken if the two of you had arrived even half a minute earlier."

Grimacing, Razzex walked toward Tal.

"You're the one eh? Tal, right?"

Tal nodded silently.

The man tossed a sheathed blade and a set of armor at him from under his cloak.

"Take those and use them if you need to."

Putting the armor on, Tal asked, "Are all of you…assassins?"

Turning to look at him, Ryuuga replied, "No. I am an Assassin Cross-a leader. Razzex is an assassin, Shina is a Stalker. We are all under the Thieves' Guild," he added seeing the confused look on Tal's face, "and therefore we are teamed together on missions to complement each other's abilities."

Strapping the sword to his side Tal looked at Ryuuga.

"I don't care what we have to do, but I must save my sister. I will not accept any compromise."

Scoffing, Razzex growled, "We have never failed any mission yet, boy. And we don't expect to."

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The scout listened to their conversation with interest. Attaching a scroll to the leg of his eagle he sent it to the hunting party.

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There was a loud flapping of wings from above their heads.

Faster than Tal could see Ryuuga and Razzex hurled daggers into the trees above as Shina disappeared from sight.

Leaping up onto the tree nearest to him Ryuuga climbed deftly to the top of the tree.

Razzex drew his katars and motioned for Tal to draw his sword.

Tal stared around for any sign of danger fearfully, clutching his sword's hilt tightly.

Razzex rolled his eyes and whispered, "Amateur."

There was a loud noise from above and a yelp of pain.

Razzex relaxed and sheathed his katars and motioned for Tal to do the same.

A second later a man fell from the top of the trees. Ryuuga followed a second later, and Shina shimmered back into view behind Razzex.

"A spy," said Ryuuga quietly. "Part of the earlier hunting party. He sent a warning message to the party returning to the castle. It was too far away; I couldn't hit it with my venom dagger."

Turning, Ryuuga continued, "We must go now. We can reach the walls by nightfall if we do not stop. Striking at night will be a much better idea than assaulting in the morning where even the blindest of owls can see us."

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